Overview

King Do Discord is the nickname of 19-year-old Brazilian Pedro Ricardo Conceição da Rocha who was arrested for allegedly being the leader of a Discord group chat promoting rape and inducing young people to carry out acts of violence and torture. His arrest in late June 2023 was broadcasted on television, becoming the subject of memes and online mockery over the following weeks.

Background

On June 25th, 2023, the Brazilian weekly television news program Fantástico (originally known as Fantástico: O Show da Vida, Portuguese for Fantastic: The Show of Life) released an exclusive investigation showing how Discord became a tool for predators prey on minors (seen below). The story^[1] explains how the victims were blackmailed into fulfilling challenges and acts of violence by leaking intimate photos on the internet if they didn't accept.

Developments

King Do Discord's Arrest

The story received a significant amount of media coverage online, prompting an ongoing police investigation to arrest Pedro Ricardo Conceição da Rocha (a 19-year-old that is considered the alleged creator and administrator of the main Discord server^[2] where crimes were committed) on July 4th, 2023. Rocha reportedly used the nickname “KING” on the platform.

The moment of his arrested was broadcasted on live television and shared on social media platforms in early July 2023. For example, Twitter^[3] user @nayuusz shared the video (shown below) on July 4th, 2023 (which subsequently went viral on social media), as the convicted responded ironically to the reporters during his arrival at the police station. Rocha even demanded journalists be "more professional" after he was asked if "he was considered a disgrace by his family" for the crimes he allegedly committed. In a week, the video garnered over 12.2 million views and 21,400 likes.

meus amigos a cara deste arrombadopic.twitter.com/W6zPXFwnxI

— juju (@nayuusz) July 4, 2023

Pedro's arrest was also livestreamed as he was playing a match of the Teamfight Tactics game. The video (shown below), posted by Twitter^[4] user @916exhausted, shows the moment police officers notify the Brazilian about his arrest, garnering 659,000 views and 4,400 likes in a week.

king do discord sendo preso pic.twitter.com/A9nzQGdiT7

— kai (@916exhausted) July 4, 2023

Online Reactions

Pedro's arrest and mocking answers denying all the accusations asked by the reporters were subsequently memed on the internet following the arrest video going viral in early July 2023. For instance, on July 5th, 2023, Twitter^[5] user @paulofrrrz compared the accused with a character from the Woody Woodpecker cartoon. The post (shown below, left) garnered over 12,900 likes and 1,700 retweets in a week. Twitter^[6] user @trizaeb also compared the Brazilian with another cartoon character (shown below, right) in a post from July 6th that received over 110 likes and 10 retweets in a week.

King Do Discord's TikTok Profile

Shortly after Pedro Ricardo's arrest, people found his TikTok profile account and started to create memes based on the content he posted. For instance, on July 6th, 2023, TikToker^[7] @yalex.syz posted a video showing Pedro using a skull mask doing a dance TikTok trend (shown below, left), which garnered over 529,000 views and 23,300 likes in four days. On July 7th, TikToker^[8] @_namoradinhododenki uploaded a meme showing prison bars closing in front of Pedro's face (shown below, right), garnering 129,000 views and 6,700 likes in five days.

Search interest

External References